Sachin Tendulkar became the first player to score 30,000 runs in international cricket on this day in 2009.
Tendulkar achieved this milestone alone during his team’s first Test match against Sri Lanka in Ahmedabad. Three test matches made up the series. In the game, Chanaka Welegedara bowled Sachin out for just four runs in the opening innings. The Little Master recovered and finished with a 100* off 211 balls and 11 fours. The game was a draw in the end.
By the time Sachin’s career was over, he had amassed 34,357 runs at an average of 48.52 during 664 international matches and 782 innings. He was the only batter to hit 100 centuries and 164 fifty-sixes.
His total of 34,357 international runs is a mountain that neither the current player nor any of his former colleagues or players have scaled.
His contemporaries included Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakara (28,016), Australia’s Ricky Ponting (27,483), Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene (25,957), and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (25,534). None of these players reached the 30,000 run threshold before they left the game.
Rahul Dravid (24,208), Sourav Ganguly (18575), MS Dhoni (17,266), and Virender Sehwag (17,253) were a few of his colleagues who fell well short of the milestone Sachin set on this particular day in 2009.
Only India’s great batter Virat Kohli, who is frequently likened to Tendulkar, is currently pursuing his hitting hero. With 71 centuries and 129 fifties, he has 24,426 international runs in 479 games for an average of 53.92.
